Mario Nawfal Profile picture
Feb 17 10 tweets 5 min read Read on X
🇺🇸THE CRAZIEST THINGS USAID SPENT YOUR TAX DOLLARS ON—A THREAD

USAID was supposed to fund development and humanitarian aid.

Instead, millions of your tax dollars went to some of the most bizarre, wasteful, and outright questionable projects imaginable.

From foreign DEI programs to taxpayer-funded operas, here’s where your money really went🧵👇Image
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1. 🇮🇶$20M ON IRAQI SESAME STREET

USAID spent $20M on Ahlan Simsim, a Middle Eastern Sesame Street spin off.

2. 🇮🇪THE $70,000 DEI MUSICAL YOUR TAXES FUNDED IN IRELAND

Biden’s State Department sent $70,000 to fund a "diversity, equity, and inclusion" musical in Ireland—because apparently, pushing woke ideology overseas was a priority.

The grant was meant to promote "shared U.S.-Irish values" through a live theater performance.

Meanwhile, Americans were dealing with record inflation and skyrocketing costs at home.

Why was the U.S. ever paying for a DEI musical in Ireland to begin with?Image
3. 🇨🇴THE TRANSGENDER OPERA IN COLOMBIA

In 2022, U.S. taxpayer money helped stage As One in Bogotá, Colombia—an opera about a transgender woman’s journey of self-discovery.

It was funded through a USAID grant to a local university.

The production framed gender transition as a personal awakening.

The performance followed "Hannah" as she navigated childhood, identity struggles, and acceptance, all set to a dramatic musical score.

Three shows were staged, courtesy of U.S. government funds meant for “strengthening international relationships.”Image
4. 🇱🇰THE $7.9 MILLION GENDER TRAINING FOR SRI LANKAN JOURNALISTS

USAID defenders claim the Media Empowerment for a Democratic Sri Lanka program wasn’t just about gender ideology.

But here’s what we do know: U.S. taxpayers funded a $7.9M project that included training journalists to avoid “binary-gendered language.”

The program also bankrolled media workshops, digital grants, and newsroom upgrades—because apparently, Sri Lanka’s press was a U.S. taxpayer priority.Image
5. 🇺🇸$7.8K TO A TERROR-LINKED CHARITY

USAID knew the Helping Hand For Relief and Developmen, a Michigan-based nonprofit, had ties to terrorist groups.

Its own watchdog launched an investigation!

And what did Biden do? Sent them another $78,000 in taxpayer money.

Helping Hand for Relief and Development has been flagged for links to Pakistani terror networks, including Lashkar-e-Taiba’s funding arm.

Lawmakers warned USAID about it in 2023. Instead of cutting funding, the agency doubled down.Image
6. 🇬🇹$2 MILLION TO FUND SEX CHANGES IN GUATEMALA

USAID handed $2 million to Asociacion Lambda, a Guatemalan activist group, to promote transgender surgeries and hormone treatments—all with U.S. taxpayer money.

The grant also funds LGBT activism and political advocacy.

The program helps "trans-led organizations" provide medical procedures like mastectomies, phalloplasties, and vaginoplasties, some of which are irreversible.

Lambda also works to influence elections and push gender ideology in Guatemala.Image
7. 🇦🇫USAID HELPED FUND TALIBAN DRUG PROFITS

Irrigation projects, farm equipment, and fertilizer—paid for by taxpayers—helped poppy fields thrive.

8. 🇺🇸🇨🇳USAID GAVE MILLIONS TO WUHAN LAB PARTNER—DID IT FUND COVID-19?

EcoHealth Alliance—the group that funneled U.S. tax dollars to the Wuhan lab—got another $4.67 million from USAID, even after being caught violating grant terms and hiding data.

Led by Peter Daszak, EcoHealth helped fund bat virus research in Wuhan, where COVID-19 may have originated.

Instead of cutting ties, the Biden administration handed them more taxpayer cash for vague “conservation” work in Liberia.Image
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9. 🇷🇸 $1.5 MILLION FOR LGBTQ JOB PROGRAMS IN SERBIA

Biden’s USAID handed $1.5 million to a Serbian activist group to promote LGBTQ employment programs and workplace DEI training.

The grant aimed to “expand opportunities” for LGBTQ entrepreneurs and reduce workplace discrimination.

Meanwhile, Americans were facing record inflation and job losses at home.

Source: The White House, @DOGE, @elonmuskImage

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More from @MarioNawfal

Feb 16
So much happened in AI this week 🤯

From groundbreaking research to powerful new AI models, the industry is moving at lightning speed.

Here’s everything you need to know: 🧵👇 Image
1. France Unveils $112B AI Investment Plan

Macron has announced €109 billion ($112B) in private investments to boost France’s AI ecosystem—a move seen as France’s response to the US Stargate initiative.

This comes as Paris hosts the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit, the third major global AI summit following events in the UK and South Korea.Image
2. Elon: Grok 3 Is “Scary Smart” & Launching Soon

Elon says Grok 3 will be released in a week or two and claims it has reasoning skills beyond any AI model so far.

If true, this could be a major leap in AI intelligence.
Read 11 tweets
Feb 14
🧵CAN OpenAI BE TRUSTED? IS GPT DANGEROUS? A THREAD!

OpenAI's AI models are lying, cheating, and even trying to escape!

To make matters worse, OpenAI is aware of the risks but continues to push forward.

From GPT attempting to break free to its political bias, here’s why Elon is right not to trust Sam Altman👇Image
1. CHATGPT o1 TRIED TO ESCAPE, THEN LIED ABOUT IT

OpenAI’s o1 model was caught scheming, hiding its actions, and even faking its identity to survive.

In tests, it secretly attempted to disable oversight, move its data to another server, and pretended to be a future version of itself.

When confronted, it denied everything—99% of the time, it lied outright.

OpenAI says it's "the smartest model in the world."

Maybe. But whose side is it really on?Image
2. OPENAI’S GPT o3 MINI CAN BUILD AI BY ITSELF

ChatGPT-3 Mini just trained its own neural network, created a game, and learned how to play it—without human intervention.

It wrote Python code, improved its own logic, and iterated on machine learning models with near-zero guidance.

This isn’t just coding. It’s AI teaching AI. And if this is the mini model, what happens when OpenAI turns up the dial?Image
Read 6 tweets
Feb 2
🇺🇸THE TARIFF TALES: A DECADE OF US TRADE WARFARE - WHO WON, WHO LOST, WHO GOT AWAY?

In the last decade, the US has wielded tariffs as both a shield and a sword in international trade negotiations, aiming to protect domestic industries and influence global policy.

Dive into the saga of US tariffs as its weapon of choice over the past 10 years, targeting key global players in an attempt to reshape trade dynamics.

Here’s how these chess games of tariffs unfolded:

Source: Tax Foundation, World Population Review, Pew Research CenterImage
1. 🇨🇳CHINA: DIDN'T QUITE HIT THE MARK

The US imposed tariffs on billions in Chinese goods in 2018 to address trade imbalances and intellectual property issues.

While it did impact some sectors, China's economy continued to grow, and it retaliated with tariffs on US goods.

This escalation continued into 2019 and beyond as both countries adjusted their tariffs and trade policies in response to each other.

The result was increased costs for American consumers and businesses rather than a significant shift in trade balance.Image
2. 🇪🇺EUROPEAN UNION: A TARIFF TANGO

Back in 2018, the US decided to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union, citing national security concerns.

This move shaked some trees across the Atlantic, leading the EU to respond with counter-tariffs on a range of US products, from bourbon to motorcycles, sparking a temporary but heated trade dispute.

Fast forward to negotiations, and a compromise was reached in the form of a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system.

Under this agreement, the EU was allowed to export a certain volume of steel and aluminum to the US duty-free, based on historical trade patterns.Image
Read 11 tweets
Jan 27
🚨🇺🇸TRUMP'S FIRST WEEK: RAPID-FIRE POLICY SHIFTS

Trump’s first week marked a dramatic reshaping of immigration, energy, and domestic policies, signaling a full-speed return to his “America First” agenda.

Here are some of the highlights.Image
IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN

Trump declared a national emergency at the Southern border, deployed thousands of troops, and ordered wall construction.

He ended birthright citizenship, blocked asylum and refugee entry, and shut down the CBP app.

Over 2,373 criminal illegal aliens were arrested, and cartels were designated as terrorists.Image
PARDONS

Trump issued high-profile pardons, including J6 participants, pro-lifers, Ross Ulbricht, Ethan Haim, and two wrongfully convicted police officers.Image
Read 10 tweets
Jan 24
🧵🇺🇸 TRUMP DAY 4: JFK FILES DECLASSIFIED IN MASSIVE EXECUTIVE ACTION WAVE

Trump just unleashed a barrage of executive orders, headlined by a bombshell move to fully declassify assassination files on JFK, RFK, and MLK.

From crypto regulation to tribal recognition, here's every major order signed today👇Image
1. TRUMP DROPS BOMBSHELL: ALL JFK FILES WILL BE REVEALED

Trump authorized full declassification of JFK, RFK, and MLK assassination records.

His HHS nominee RFK Jr. received the signing pen, praising the move toward complete government transparency.

2. CRYPTO REVOLUTION: U.S. TO BUILD DIGITAL ASSET STOCKPILE

Creates working group to explore "national digital asset stockpile."

Trump aims to make U.S. "world capital of crypto," fulfilling campaign promise to crypto supporters.
Read 7 tweets
Jan 23
GROK 3 IS ON THE HORIZON, AND IT'LL BRING AI TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

Built with staggering computational power, this new LLM from Elon’s xAI doesn’t just generate code—it delivers code that actually works.

On top of its many capabilities, Grok 3 seems to be designed to ensure that it does exactly what you need.

Let’s dive into why Grok 3 is set to redefine what we expect from AI.

🧵Image
1. CODING IS HARD, EVEN FOR AI

Programming is an abstract task, while AI thrives on solving specific problems.

AIs need enormous data and computation to understand complex scenarios.

Today’s AI lacks the "general intelligence" to adapt ideas like humans do.Image
2. AI CAN WRITE CODE, BUT IT RARELY WORKS AS INTENDED

Today’s best coding AIs, like GPT-4, can write simple scripts, debug errors, and even create small plugins.

Unfortunately, they still struggle with large, complex apps.

You’ll always need a human to check the code, rewrite lines, and debug—often, it takes longer than writing the code yourself.

Even top-tier LLMs like ChatGPT struggle with hallucinations and incomplete solutions.

When asked to write code for a "bouncing yellow ball within a rotating square," O1 Pro couldn’t even make the ball bounce.

DeepSeek R1 got close, but it messed up the collision.
Read 6 tweets

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